1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a tree and brush cutting and chipping apparatus having cutting and chipping members in a single housing.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Tree trimming machinery is known in the art. Most apparatus of the prior art is designed to either cut trees and brush or to chip the cut trees and brush. In most clearing operations, such as clearing right-of-ways for power lines, it is often necessary to use two or three machines or vehicles as well as a line crew and tree crew to complete the tree or brush clearing operation. The line crew will move the tree cutting machine into position and cut the necessary trees, limbs, or brush. The cuttings are then transported to a chipping machine where they are chipped or shredded by the tree crew. The cuttings are fed from the chipping machine to a dump truck and then removed from the site to be disposed of or resold as mulch, poultry litter, etc.
There are several patents which disclose various tree cutting and chipping machines.
Pallari, U.S. Pat. No. 3,996,980 discloses a clearing machine for brushwood or the like comprising a pair of shearing units mounted on a main frame secured to a mobile tractor. Each shearing unit comprises a stationary plate and a pair of laterally spaced rotary cutting blades rotatble in opposite directions toward one another in a horizontal plane which cooperate with the stationary plate to shear brushwood and feed to a chopping unit. A pushing fork bends the timber to be cut forward so that the base of the timber is fed to the chopper base first. Feed reels on the rotary blades facilitate feeding to the chopping unit. The details of the chopping unit are not disclosed. The chips produced by the chopper are removed by a blower and pipe to a loading bed which is entirely separate from the tractor.
Trout, U.S. Pat. No. 3,343,575 discloses a tree and brush rotary saw attachment for the free end of the boom of a backhoe. The saw assembly is mounted on a frame which is maneuverable for sawing at different elevations and angles for sawing brush and trees, and for tree trunks and limbs into desired lengths. A nozzle applies a tree and brush killing chemicals to the saw blade, and to the resultant stumps to destroy the stumps. The rotary saw attachment does not provide for chipping or otherwise disposing of the cut trees or brush.
Baenen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,273,169 discloses a tree harvesting cable saw for severing a standing tree adjacent its base. The apparatus comprises a main frame pivotally supported on the end of a boom that is in turn pivoted on a vehicle turn-table. The frame has a pair of tree gripping grapple arms at the upper end for gripping the tree to be cut and a cable saw at the bottom end. The cable saw is an endless cable which runs over pulleys mounted on a pair of movable arms which scissor together to completely sever the tree while being gripped by the grapple arms. The apparatus does not provide for chipping or otherwise disposing of the cut trees or brush.
Luscombe, U.S. Pat. No. 4,063,359 discloses a vehicle mounted boom device including a lower boom member pivotally mounted on the the vehicle and an upper boom pivotally connected thereto. An elongate chain saw mechanism is mounted on the upper boom for carrying out tree pruning or cutting operations. There is no provision for chipping or otherwise disposing of the cuttings.
The present invention is distinguished over the prior art in general, and these patents in particular by a tree and brush apparatus having a housing which may be telescopically recieved at the end of a hollow rectangular boom or secured onto the existing boom of a vehicle and carried into contact with the objects to be cut and chipped. The housing has a cutting member at the front which cuts the material and feeds it bottom first into a rotating cylindrical chipping member within the housing. The rear of the housing forms a rectangular duct and pair of alignment guides extend angularly outward from the front portion to receive the trunk of the tree being cut. A pair of cable guides extend between the top of the housing to the front of the alignment guides to divert power lines or cables and prevent them from being cut. The chipping member reduces the cut material to chip size and feeds the produced chips through the duct. Blower units mounted on the housing facilitate advancing chipped materials rearwardly through the duct portion of the housing. A nozzle mounted on the underside of the housing discharges fluid onto the remaining cut materials to seal the cut portion against hazards which may cause damage or the remaining portion.